Italia Mia
Digital Curation Blog about Italy. Great Resources online discovered for you. Feed your corporate blog or your social media presence with our contents. Be sure to find daily updates and the best of the net related to everything is ITALY. Travel, food, fashion, news, culture and much more.
Curated by
Mariano Pallottini

I’d like to share some of my favorite handheld “snacks” with you. Granted, some of these snacks will keep you going for hours (like the porchetta panini), but these would never be considered a meal by Italian standards! [...]

Mariano Pallottini's insight:

Today, street food seems to be living a second youth: it has become, all of a sudden, en vogue. It is a time saver during the week, when work or school may take up much of the day; it often represents an alternative to conventional meals and can be a pleasant change from routine.

There's something to be said for the Italians - they do it bloody well. And by "it", I mean everything; food, wine, football, and as I found out recently on a trip to Tuscany, incredible beach resorts. [...]

Mariano Pallottini's insight:

If your biggest goal is to see Italy like a local - from restaurants, to wineries, to the countryside and beyond, than you have to understand the the special attitude Jo Carrigan has expressed in this article. We all wish to avoid as much of the touristy stuff as possible, outside of a week or two in Italy to see the highlights, but are we willing to follow the rising tide of Italian vacationers? Jo Carrigan did it and this article tells about her discoveries.

If your biggest goal is to see Italy like a local - from restaurants, to wineries, to the countryside and beyond, than you have to understand the the special attitude Jo Carrigan has expressed in this article. We all wish to avoid as much of the touristy stuff as possible, outside of a week or two in Italy to see the highlights, but are we willing to follow the rising tide of Italian vacationers? Jo Carrigan did it and this article tells about her discoveries.

Our complete guide to driving in Italy with tips, advice and a full car checklist

Mariano Pallottini's insight:

Driving in Italy can certainly be an adventure.Everyone knows the old stereotype of a typical Italian driver – fast, aggressive and breaking the rules left and right….Well folks, it’s all true!Italian drivers are aggressive and almost entirely disinterested in the driving regulations. But they are also – don’t laugh – extremely competent drivers. [source]

Montefioralle is one of the most ancient villages of the Chianti area and one of the most beautiful villages in Italy: discover what to see and how to reach it. [...]

Mariano Pallottini's insight:

Tuscany is not only Florence, but also not only San Gimignano. Tuscany like many Regions in Italy is made of lesser known destinations equally amazing and incredibly fascinating. Hamlets and picturesque villages rich in history, old traditions, peculiar crafts, ancient walls, lovely alleys and stunning landscapes.

Montefioralle brings you on unconventional roads in Tuscany. It is a renaissance village remained intact all over the centuries, which preserve the charm of narrow streets and alleyways winding through enchanting historic buildings.

2,000-year-old Etruscan town near Siena, known for its world famous Palio, will be "turned into a mini Hogwarts"

Mariano Pallottini's insight:

If you are among the millions of fans of the Harry Potter series of movies or of the legendary tales of JK Rowling, you don't have to miss the First Quidditch European Games in Tuscany, organized in an area, between Val d'Orcia and Val di Chiana internationally recognized for the beauty.

Sarteano is a charming medieval hamlet located on a plateau between the Val d'Orcia and Valdichiana. An area rich in breathtaking views, the town of Sarteano has been inhabited since ancient times. Indeed, it boasts some of the area's most important Etruscan tombs in Tuscany. The town's 5th century castle is an important example of the towns medieval origins. [source]

Forget Lake Como, that body of water is SO over. It’s all about the coast of Italy, the Amalfi coast to be exact. And Celebs know the Italian port city of Positano is the perfect spot to vacation this summer. [...]

Mariano Pallottini's insight:

This articles reveals that vips such as RACHEL ZOE (American fashion stylist), GWYNETH PALTROW (American actress, singer, and food writer), CHRISTIE BRINKLEY (American model and actress), MARISKA HARGITAY (American actress), have chosen Italy for their summer holidays. The source of these information is, not surprisingly, Instagram. The article publishes 10 instagram photos picturing private moments but also stunning views of the localities. Overall we can easily calculate an amount of almost 200.000 likes, and 2.800 comments. Which are those destinations able to benefit of such great advertising? Amalfi and Positano.

An ancient village in Sicily is nestled largely inside a cave -- in a natural opening between two rocky mountains. [...]

Mariano Pallottini's insight:

These houses inside a caves are very similar to the pueblos built by American Indians in the Southwest of US, especially the Hopi tribe, but here we are in Sicily and only 100 km from Palermo and 18 km from Trapani. The hidden village, is named after the family who settled in the cave and lived there until the 1950s.

An entire Italian hamlet celebrated as the birthplace of pasta has gone on sale for £15.5 million.

Consisting of more than 50 properties, the medieval mini-village close to the historical town of Norcia in Umbria is a haven for food lovers and has been declared a monument of historical interest. [...]

Mariano Pallottini's insight:

Italians in a rush to sell assets are raising the competition for a limited number of bidders but some clients worry that if Greece abandons the euro, the currency could plummet, damaging the value of Italian properties in the long term. Others fear buying too soon and missing out on discounts if the euro sinks still lower.

Italians aghast at behaviour of tourists, from frolicking in centuries-old fountains as temperatures soar to having sex in public [...]

Mariano Pallottini's insight:

This article proposes a list of deprecable behaviours of tourists in the Italian cities of art. Bath in the fountains or sex in public, all the tourist are the same, it doesn't matter the origin. Surprised? But is not Italy the country of love?No matter how many Italian landscapes you have seen, how many photos that have taken your breath away and how many sensational stories you have heard about Italy, no feeling can compare top the one you have when seeing in one of the cities of art of Italy. The magic of Italy will then conquer you.Can a couple of drinks and an outside temperature reaching 40°C with high percent of humidity, release all the inhibitory brakes?Maybe yes, but we have to add to the list, the action of the espresso, the beauty of the Italian women and a sense of joie de vivre that reigns in Italy despite the crisis.

Luke Slattery on a page of the Australian DailyLife.com take your hand and introduces you to the beautiful town of Umbria: Spello, Panicale, Perugia, Norcia, Castelluccio. Will tell you about the incredible treasures of gothic and renaissance art of these towns but also about salume, and truffles. Prosciutto and sausages made from wild boar and pork: norcineria.

Luke Slattery on a page of the Australian DailyLife.com take your hand and introduces you to the beautiful town of Umbria: Spello, Panicale, Perugia, Norcia, Castelluccio. Will tell you about the incredible treasures of gothic and renaissance art of these towns but also about salume, and truffles. Prosciutto and sausages made from wild boar and pork: norcineria.

One reason Sicilians tend to identify with Sicily first and Italy (a distant) second? The same goes for Veneto in the north or Puglia in the south.

Italy is a young country -- it only celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2011. Despite the successful export of the "Italian restaurant," the idea of a unified Italian cuisine is something many Italians reject.

Instead there are regional dishes, sometimes with tastes as different as you'd find between countries. [...]

Mariano Pallottini's insight:

The Egyptindependent.com offers to its reader a mini guide to the Italian culinary differences with useful contacts.

If you’re still wondering where to go this summer, one must-visit destination on the top of our list is Italy. While Julia Roberts tried, as best as she could, to communicate the importance of food in Italy in the movie Eat, Love, Pray, you can’t even begin to imagine you know what it's like unless you’ve actually been there and experienced it. [...]

Mariano Pallottini's insight:

The "Gulf News" a daily English language newspaper published from Dubai, gives to its readers 10 good reasons to visits Italy:

Coffee

Tuscany

St. Peter’s Basilica

Forest trails

Bruschetta

Castel Sant’Angelo

Medieval towns

Pizza

The Pantheon

Homemade ice-cream

I personally think that the list could be much bigger if the approach is mentioning all travel destinations that worth a visit to Italy.

In Italy you will find the wonder in taking a break in an italian piazza. Understand the importance Italians give to this special place can come only from a direct experience.

The main square of a town is for an italian a second home and the best meeting point. Regardless of gender, age, economics or social class, including tourists, is where you can take delight among clusters of people enjoying their time.

Hankering for sfogliatelle? If you're from Staten Island or Brooklyn, you have come to love these flaky, crackling Italian pastries wrapped around a ricotta cheese-based filling. [...]

Mariano Pallottini's insight:

When in Naples, you have to try sfogliatella, and Pasticceria Attanasio offers the best sfogliatelle you’ve ever tasted... but abroad? Is it possible to taste good sfogliatelle outside Italy? It seems to be possible in US, read the article.

The Beautiful Valdaso in Italy in 2 Blog Posts full of great Tips

Today I’ll bring you to discover the Valdaso, a beautiful valley in Le Marche Region with ancient villages and a charming rural landscape. We’ll discover this territory through two travel itineraries from the Sea to the Mountains and vice versa in two different blog posts:

Surviving more than 2,500 years of wind and erosion, this tightly knit community struggles to ward off the “Grim Reaper” as it sits strikingly atop a pinnacle of brittle volcanic tufa that overlooks the Tiber River Valley in the province of Viterbo in the Lazio Region of Central Italy. It’s no surprise that Civita is known as il paese che muore (the dying town). [...]

Mariano Pallottini's insight:

What is the village in Italy that you better visit before it disappears, who treated the wounds of a King coming from north and gave birth to a saint biographer of St. Francis?

I first laid eyes on Turin twenty years ago. It was grimy; all the buildings were blackened; cars parked haphazardly in all the large squares. It was truly an industrial city that nobody wanted to visit.

A bit more than ten years later, a miracle occurred. [...]

Mariano Pallottini's insight:

Exploring Turin means discover a royal city with historic cafés, one of the food capitals of Italy or at least the Italy’s capital of Chocolate. If Turin is not anymore one of the first world Capital of Cinema, there are records that no other town in the world or in Italy can steal. Turin is the birthplace of the aperitif, owns the world’s most important Egyptian museum outside Egypt and is the esoteric capital of Italy. It is definitely a must see city in Italy

On this leg of the Cinque Terre hike, we descend from ridge-top Corniglia to coastal Manarola.

Mariano Pallottini's insight:

Rick Steves is America's most respected authority on European travel. Richard "Rick" Steves (born May 10, 1955) is an American author and television personality focusing on European travel. He is the host of the American Public Television series Rick Steves' Europe, has a public radio travel show, Travel with Rick Steves, and has authored various location-specific travel guides. [wikipedia]

The Abbey of Saint Michael the Archangel is perched on the highest point of Procida, in the “Terra Murata” surrounded by fortified walls built in the 16th century to protect settlers from pirates. I first spotted the walled section of the island when I sat down to lunch in the port of Corricella. It looked like a dramatic and imposing fortress next to the pretty colours of the lower village [...]

Mariano Pallottini's insight:

Procida is one of the Flegrean Islands off the coast of Naples in southern Italy. The island is between Cape Miseno and the island of Ischia. With its tiny satellite island of Vivara, it is a comune of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the region of Campania.In case you haven't heard, it is really warm in Procida right now; this week, temperatures are hitting 95°F and the heat traditionally continues into September.Visiting Procida during the hottest months? For beating the heat in Procida, go to church. Visit the Abbey of Saint Michael it is naturally air-conditioned. Find cooler temperatures and get away from the crowd by pointing toward the terrace of the abbey, with stunning views of the sea.

Pienza, which has an interesting history. It’s a small, quaint Tuscan town and one of my favorites because you get to experience everyday living in the style of a local resident. Pienza is a small hilltop town in the valley known as the Val d’Orcia in the province of Siena.[...]

Mariano Pallottini's insight:

Discover Pienza and its historic center recognized and added to the Unesco World Heritage List in 1996.

The Umbrian beginning of summer is full of appointments related to music; Festival dei Due Mondi, Umbria Jazz, Cambio Festival, and Trasimeno Blues are events of international level that any enthusiast shouldn’t be missed. [...]

Mariano Pallottini's insight:

If you’ve never heard of the Umbria Jazz Festival, prepare to have your world elegantly funked and smoothly grooved. For 10 days every July, Italy plays host to some of the most famed and celebrated Jazz talent around.

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